Coming as no surprise, USA announced last night that its horror / sci fi series The Purge will be returning for a second season. That show brings the movie franchise of the same name to the small screen and it was billed as a ten-episode “television event” for its inaugural run. It started out with good ratings for a cable series and saw those drop just a little bit after its first couple of weeks. Overall, it has averaged a 0.4 rating based on same day viewing in the 18-49 demographic thus far (the numbers for last night’s season finale are not available yet) and it has seen decent lifts from delayed viewing as well. I have been predicting that the network would extend this “event series” pretty much since it debuted. I expect that the second season will have around ten episodes and USA has said that they plan on “digging even deeper into the mythology in Season 2”.
The Purge takes place in a totalitarian America where every year there is a twelve hour period when all crime is legal including murder. The series focuses on a group of people who must face hard choices to survive the night. It stars Gabriel Chavarria, Hannah Anderson, Jessica Garza, Lili Simmons, and Amanda Warren.
Another announcement came last night that was also no surprise as NBC has pulled the plug on its Summer series Reverie. That series was originally planned for a mid-season start last year, but was pushed to Summer which is never a good sign. It debuted in late May to pretty tepid numbers and saw those drop even further through its ten-episode run. It averaged only a 0.4 rating based on on the demo during its first season which is pretty low for broadcast network show even during the low-viewership Summer months. It never generated much buzz around the sci fi community nor did I see much social activity in support of the show. It wrapped up quietly in August and the network was mum on the show after that. But I assumed that the show’s fate was sealed and have had it at Cancellation Likely status since June. I don’t expect fans to make much fuss over the show’s demise and this one becomes yet another one-season-and-done Peak TV entry that will wind up on the trash heap.
Reverie follows former hostage negotiator Mara Kint who attempts to save people whose minds are lost in an advanced virtual-reality simulation. It stars Sarah Shahi, Dennis Haysbert, Jessica Lu, and Sendhil Ramamurthy.
The Fall season is in full swing now so expect more updates and announcements to be made over the next month or so. Plus, there are still several Summer and Spring shows that we are waiting to hear word on such as Humans, Into the Badlands, and Salvation. Be sure to stay tuned to this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news as well as the latest ratings results.
